Process of extracting oil from fish.



W. E. OVERTON.

PROCESS OF EXTRACTING OIL FROM FISH.

APPLICATION FILED JULYQS, 1911.

Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

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. i Applicationiiled may 25,1911; Serial nolem ss'og To aZZ whom it may-concer Be'it knownthatI, WILLIS E. Ovnn'ron,

a citizen-of .the United States, residing at Solomons, in the county of Calvert and- State of Maryland, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Extracting Oil from Fish, of which the following is a specification;

This invention relates to an improved process of extracting the oil and water from fishor other material. I f I It is common at the present time to subject large quantities of fish to a cooking or i the oiland water therefrom,'the oil beingsteaming action and to then pass the cooked or steamed fish through a press to extract refined and the scrap'utilized as a fertilizer.v

' ;;The presen t mode of treating fish does not, result inthe procurement of as much oil as should-be obtained and I am also aware-that in subjectin the cooked or'steamed fish to the action a press that a very considerable quantity of the meat is pressed out with the oil and water and is lost with the water, which latter is run off after theoil has been I separated therefrom. a V

The tendency today in the treatment of fi sh is to employ continuously-operating machines so that both the cooking and pressmg operations may be carried onjcontinuously and to do this screw-conveyer cookers and screw presses are employed. The-screwpresses act to compress thefish to squeeze out the liquids and at the same time feed the mass forward to a point, of discharge,

and I have observed in the course of mvv long'experience in the practical conduct of the business :that while the oil and water near the outer surface of compressed mass are pretty well extracted .there nevertheless remains in the central portions of said mass a. considerable quantity of oil and water that passes out withthe mass at the discharge end of the press. It is during this fsqueezing operationthat fibers and stringy parts of the. fish-meat are pressed out with the oil and. water and are lost.

. I charged. By my process I am enabled to obtain practically all ofzthe oil the, fish contain and I avoid the great loss of meat that has heretofore been expressed with the oil and water. In carrying out my invention I,may em-:.

.The accompanying drawing illustrates diagrammatically one arrangement of apparatus that-will enable those skilled in the art to practise the invention, in-connec-tion with the disclosures made in the following specification. A

After the fish have been properly steamed or cooked, which will be effected in any suitable apparatus not illustrated in'the drawing, they, the fish, will be fed into the hopper, 1, at the inlet end of a press, 2,-the latter also being of-any preferred construction, when the oil and water will be pressed therefrom. The casing of this press, 1, is preferably be caught in a suitable receptacle, 3, from which a drain pipe,4, will convey and deposit it into a tank, 5. The matter collected in this tank consists of water, oil and 'fibrous provided to receive the heavler matter from open at the bottom sothat the, matter squeezed therefrom may escape and the pipe, 7, and by preference this second tank is provided with'a steam pipe, 10, near the bottom which maysupply steam thereto and thus keep the contents of the tank in a heated condition. It will thus be understood that-the substance deposited in tank, 9, will consist mainly of waterand fibrous fish meat that has been squeezed from the mass passing through the press, 2, and as a matter of factthis substance contains a large quantity ,of thefish meat that at the present time is run off with the .water and is lost. Ordi; narily the fish that pass through the press, are compressed to extract so much of-the oil and water as can be extracted simply by such an operation and the meat is then dis- Bymy improved process, I provide a conveyer casing, 11, which IECQIYQS, thearessed mass from the Jre'ss 2 and-inwli'ich the mass will be loosened up and conveyed preferably to the feed-end of another press 12, and during said breaking or loosening I Propose to add water to the previously; compressed mass which water will serve as" a vehicle to carry off additional oil during a Fa -a4.

second compression which is to follow. In

7 adding water to the previously-compressed,

but now broken up or loosened mass, I find it of considerable advantage to utilize that water extracted from the fish in the first v instance and which has beenaccumulated the tank, 9, because that water also contains particles of fish meat which I desire to recover and which I keep in motion by agitation through the action of steam that en- "ters the tank, 9, through perforations, 13, in. steam 'pipe, 10'. 'To convey the substance 7 from tank, 9, I use a pump, 14, a pipe, 15,

leading from the tank to the pump, and a pipe, 16, serving to establish communication between the pump and the conveyer casing,

11. By means of the arrangement of devices thus described the watery substance from' tank, 9, is thoroughly c'ommingled with the mass from which it was previously expressed,-the oil however havingbeen separated therefrom while in tankor receptacle, 5. In order to effect 'a thorough commingling of the materials in the casing 11, I preferably utilize an agitator whic is mounted on a shaft, 17, at the entrance-end of the said casing after which a screw conv'eyer, 18, will convey it to the feed-in-end of the press, 12.

. While I have shown and preferably make I use of asecond press, it is to be understood that the mater al may beconveyed hack to the feed-end of the pres's from which it came,the object being tojsubmit the previously-pressed materia and added watery matter to a second pressing operati'on. By

utilizing a second-press however, I am enabled to make theoperatiOn cont-inuoiis. one which obviously effects economics in coinmercia-lly practising-the invention. When the material from the conveyer'casing, 11, enters'the second press, 12, it is subjected to asecond compression and during this operation inasmuch as the, agitator hasbroken up the mass, asitleft the first pressthe oil left therein after, the, first pressing will now be expelledby pressure and also by the passage w of the water, from the interiortoathe exterior of themass,there being at this time a muchfgreater proportion ,of water in the mass overtheroil left therein and the latter ;will more readily pass off with the former vand be deposited in a trough19, from which ituwill pass off by .pipe, 20,.into a tank, 21.

The oil expressec during this second compression Will rise on. the surface and may be drawn off; by pipe, 22, while the fluid rem'aining may be disposedof inany suitable ways The material passing through press,

12, will be discharged through outlet pipe,

.v 23, andremoved in any suitable way.

It is to be understood that the present in- I vention therefore seeks to express the oil and water from the heated fish; then separate the oil from the water; add water to the pressed material and then again subject the material to furtherpressure to express additional oil and water. In carrying out the process it is obvious that the material may be subjected to a third pressing if desired. It is obvious that the act of extracting the oil and water from the fish scrap results in eflecting a partial drying of the mass. p

. Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, a

1. The process of extractingoil from fish consisting in subjecting a quantity of fish to a'pressing operation to express oil and watery fluids therefrom, separating the oil from the watery fluid, returning the watery fluid to the mass and subjecting it to another pressing operation to express additional oil and'the water and separating the oil from the water aft-er the lastpressing.

2. The process of extracting 011 from fish consisting in subjecting a quantity of fish to a pressing operation to express oil and wav tery fluids therefrom, separatingthe expressed oil from the expressed watery fluid, loosening the pressed 'mass, returning the watery fluids to the loosened mass and again pressing the same to express additional oil and the water and finally separating the oil from the last expressed watery fluid.

3. The process of extracting. oil from fish consisting in subjecting a quantity of fish to a pressing operation to express oil and watery fluids therefrom, separatingthe expressed oil from the expressed watery fluids,

heating the watery fluids and return them to the pressed mass, again pressing the watered massJeo express additional oil and the water and finally separating the oil from the last expressed watery fluid.

4-. The process of extracting oil from fish consisting in subjecting a quantity of fish to a pressing operation to express oil and watery fluids therefrom, separating the ex- 

